-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A Florida jury has recommended the death penalty for a plumber who kidnapped , raped and murdered a police detective 's daughter .

Denise Lee 's frantic 911 call was the centerpiece of her killer 's trial .

Michael King , 38 , showed no reaction Friday afternoon as the jury 's 12-0 decision was announced in Sarasota . Jurors deliberated for nearly three hours .

King was convicted a week ago of first-degree murder and related offenses in the January 17 , 2008 , death of Denise Lee , a 21-year-old mother of two boys .

Nathan Lee and Sgt. Dave Goff , the victim 's husband and father , remained composed in court . They had maintained a daily presence in the courtroom during a trial that included the heartbreaking tape of Denise Lee 's frantic 911 call on her captor 's cell phone . Watch the jury recommend death ''

In Florida , a jury 's recommendation for a death sentence is advisory . King will be formally sentenced later . Judges rarely overturn a jury 's unanimous decision .

Jurors Marcia Burns and Pat O'Quinn told reporters that defense testimony about King 's head injury from a sledding accident and his low IQ carried little weight in the jury room .

Denise Lee 's father and husband had hoped for the death penalty . `` I do n't think he should be able to live another day , '' Nathan Lee said Friday as he awaited the verdict .

Lee and Goff told the jury that she was a bright young woman who put aside her career ambitions to marry her college sweetheart and raise their two boys , now 2 and 3 .

`` She was everything we could wish for in a daughter and more , '' Goff said .

Several jurors had tears in their eyes as Nathan Lee described his wife as a devoted mother who was nursing one son and potty-training another when a stranger abducted her from their home .

`` I was so proud to call her my wife , '' he said . `` Denise was the love of my life , my soul mate . I knew after our first date that I had found the perfect girl . ''

He added that their boys `` know their beautiful , courageous mommy has gone to heaven and now is an angel . ''

King 's siblings spoke of how a childhood sledding accident left him with a head injury that contributed to a lifetime of troubles . One expert described the injury as a `` divot '' in his brain .

Experts testified that scans indicated that King 's brain was abnormally shaped , especially his frontal lobe : the center for logic , planning and reason . His IQ was described as about 76 , in the low range . A person with an IQ of 70 is considered to be mentally retarded , according to testimony .

King 's brother , Greg , testified that the defendant was 6 when he crashed head-first into a post while being pulled on a sled by a snowmobile . `` I felt bad for him , '' Greg King said . `` I felt responsible , but I was n't . ''

As a child , Michael King would get a faraway look in his eyes , witnesses said . Once , he fired his BB gun at witches he said he saw in the trees . Another time , he chased family members around the house with a running chainsaw . His eyes were `` bugging out , '' his brother testified .

King also complained of headaches and hearing `` a buzzing sound '' in his head , Greg King told the jury .

King seemed to be deteriorating mentally in late 2007 , according to testimony . He faced foreclosure , was considering filing for bankruptcy and broke up with a girlfriend on Thanksgiving Day . The ex-girlfriend , Jennifer Robb , testified that he sat on the bed staring into space and unable to dress himself .

`` He acted as if he were somewhere else , '' she said . But she said she never knew him to be violent .

According to testimony , Lee was taken from her home during the afternoon , driven to King 's home , sexually assaulted and then shot in the head and buried in a ditch .

During the trial , Lee 's voice filled the courtroom as her desperate 911 call was played to the jury . Listen to the heartbreaking 911 call ''

A 911 operator repeatedly said `` Hello , '' and Lee was heard pleading with her captor : `` I 'm sorry . I just want to see my family . ... I just want to see my family again . Please . ... Oh , please , I just want to see my family again . Let me go . ''

Eventually , Lee managed to say , `` My name is Denise . I 'm married to a beautiful husband , and I just want to see my kids again . ... Please , God , please protect me . ''

Lee 's heart-shaped ring , a gift from her husband , was found in King 's car , and hair matching hers was found on duct tape at King 's house .

According to testimony and court records , Lee fought frantically for her life , banging on the windows of King 's green Camaro , screaming for help and begging one witness , `` Call the cops . ''

Several people reported seeing something suspicious and called 911 . But authorities did n't find Lee in time , and allegations that dispatchers mishandled the calls have led to criticism of the local 911 system .

The 911 communications breakdown was blamed on a shift change , and two dispatchers were suspended , according to the St. Petersburg Times .

Lee 's husband has launched a foundation bearing her name that works toward 911 reform . He plans to file a lawsuit this month , a family spokesman said .

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Jury votes 12-0 to recommend death sentence

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Michael King convicted of kidnapping and murdering Denise Lee

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Mother of two was taken from her home by man in green Camaro

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Centerpiece of trial was victim 's frantic 911 call